Real Faith

Hi, I’m Joni Eareckson Tada with a beautiful old hymn that teaches a powerful lesson.

Be still my soul, the Lord is on thy side
Bear patiently the cross of grief or pain
Leave to thy God to order and provide
In every change He faithful will remain
Be still my soul, thy best thy heavenly friend
Through thorny ways leads to a joyful end.

That’s a good song to sing when you’re going through a scary trial. The song tells us to bear patiently the cross of grief or pain. Leave everything to God; He will order it all and provide for your care. In every change, no matter how frightening it is, your God is faithful. He’ll always be with you, for you, leading you.

You know, change, for the Christian, is always a little unnerving. We don’t like it when someone rocks the boat. For the most part though, we accept, we almost prefer, things as they are even in awful circumstances. What is it they say, “Better the devil you know, then the one you don’t?” Change usually means stress or worry. And it is most often tough trials that bring on that change. But here’s the thing, here’s why our unchanging God seems heaven bent on bringing constant change into our lives.

You see, one of the dangers of the Christian life is that we too often imagine it. We picture that we are people of prayer who happily obey, but are we? We say we love God and trust Him; that He is first in our lives; that our marriages are centered on Him, but is that, in fact, true? We say we are avid students of God’s word; that we witness faithfully; that we adore our Savior, but we easily deceive ourselves unless those assertions are frequently put to the test. It’s not that God wants to know the reality of our preferences for Him. No, He already knows all about us. He knows far better than we know ourselves and He knows the score, the honest truth about our Christian walk. But the thing is, the truth is, God wants us to know the actual reality of our preference for Him. He wants us to know how much our hearts are truly inclined toward Him. Not merely through words (it’s so easy to say words) but no, through tough, demanding obedience. That, Christian friends, is why He brings unsettling change into your life. It’s why He brings hard tests of faith because each trial forces you into a corner. A corner where you’ve got to ask yourself: Do I really, I mean really, love God? Am I really willing to follow Him through this trial? Am I willing to trust Him? Can I easily reach for biblical promises that I can rely on? Do I know them as I say I do? Friend, trials are the best way, perhaps the only way, of putting your love for God to the test.

So commit to Jesus that you are willing to follow Him and trust Him. Then your faith will become rock-solid real. And that’s one test you definitely do not want to fail. So like the hymn says, join me in saying: “Soul be still and trust in your unchanging God.”

Music: “Be Still, My Soul” by Kathrina von Schlegel, Public Domain

© Joni and Friends